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1.16.2011

broiled tilapia with lemon buerre blanc

i have some explaining to do. you see, i thought there were two classes of meatless eaters: vegetarians, who abstain from meat, but eat eggs, dairy products, animal products, and fish, and vegans who eat no animal products whatsoever. when i mentioned that january is vegetarian around here, i honestly didn't realize there were so many kinds of vegetarian. good thing wikipedia set me straight:

as it turns out, mom and i didn't realize at the time, we're really pescetarians for the month, since we've limited our "meat" consumption to fish and shellfish only, eliminating all meat from animals that walk.

buerre blanc. sounds fancy, doesn't it? i lot fancier than "butter sauce," which is really a better description. and really, who is going to turn down anything covered in rich, lemony butter sauce? i bet this could convert even the biggest carnivore into a fish eater.

preheat your oven to broil (500F). place the fish fillets in a large casserole dish. coat both sides with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and paprika.

cook the fish about 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish.

while the fish cooks, make the buerre blanc. combine the sherry, lemon juice, and shallots in a small skillet over medium heat. bring to a simmer and cook until reduced by three quarters.

stir in the cream and remove from heat.

use a whisk and add the butter, one pat at a time, until the sauce is smooth. when adding the butter, add each piece when there's a tiny sliver of the last piece left, or you risk the sauce separating.

3 comments:

Wow, I didn't know there were so many kinds of vegetarians, either! I could totally live the rest of my life as a pescetarian. I make a sauce almost exactly like this pretty much every time we make fish. That little burst of lemon really adds a lot of flavor to the fish!